


Celestial Being

by Divineamaterasu



Category: Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Kidnapping, Other, Romance, Violence, very very slightly AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2019-11-21 20:35:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18147113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Divineamaterasu/pseuds/Divineamaterasu
Summary: Aria lived solitary life. As janitor at the National Air and Space Museum, Aria Normandy surrounded herself with what she loved most, outer space. But even with her head in the stars, she was bored. No amount of hobbies could save her from her lonely and unfulfilled life. Then, when she comes across multiple downed security guards and follows a sentient SR-71 Blackbird outside, she may get more than she bargained for.Sucked into a turbulent world she never knew existed, she learns the meaning of friendship…and that not everyone is who they seem.





	1. Blackbird

**Author's Note:**

> Why hello there and welcome to my fic! 
> 
> I try to keep everything in this fic somewhat original, even going against things that commonly go without saying in other TF fics. (Of course there are similarities too!) but basically my aim is realism. Things that are taken for granted will not be here. If something relevant needs explaining and fleshing out, I will do it.  
> This story has been a brain child of mine for nine years, and I'm still constantly looking for ways to improve it. Basically, I want to make this story the best version of itself using the skills I have! I'm always open to feedback at anytime, whether its about grammar or plot!
> 
> All that being said, I hope you enjoy :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to my fic! It's a slow burn between Ironhide and a plain and simple human OC. This is a ongoing re-write of a story I have posted on Fanfiction.net, and let me tell you, it is so much better than the original!  
> For the first chapter I would like to thank the help from SweetSpark22 and Sailor Luck. For the betterment of the entire story I would like to thank JB Tarrant as well as many constructive reviews from generous readers.

It was twenty after five pm when Aria arrived at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. She hummed as she walked upstream of a river of tourists who made their way down to hundreds of buses that would return them from where they came.

The Udvar-Hazy Center was a part of the National Air and Space Museum. It was not only the home of thousands of air and space artifacts but home to her as well. It had been that way since she first walked through these very doors when she was eight.

Massive planes strung up like toys were the first thing that could be seen walking out onto the balcony. Nearly every day she watched people's faces express the childish wonder she felt when she first laid eyes on them.

She walked down the steps of the balcony onto the main floor of the museum. It was there the SR-71 Blackbird sat on display. The distinct aircraft stood out from all the others. It was massive, black, and distinctly curved. The fastest and highest flying plane ever built, even to this day.

But it was also the strangest display the museum had. Sometimes her skin would tingle when she was near it when no one else was around as if it had a presence. The story at the museum was that it was haunted. Even as she walked past, one of the tour guides was telling a lingering family the story.

"—and then, days after it flew into the Bermuda Triangle, something unexplained happened…" the man paused dramatically."One foggy morning, it appeared back at the base, not a scratch on it. But when they searched for the pilot… he was nowhere to be found."

The children of the small family gasped in horror, while the parents laughed politely.

"Looks like old man Ernesto is at it again."

Aria turned to acknowledge the man, Frank, a dull looking, middle-aged man. He was also her co-worker.

"Hey, at least he's having fun," said Aria, falling into pace with Frank. "Plus his story does have some validity. The pilot was never found."

"Yes, but who would want to haunt that old piece of junk?" Frank nodded his head back to the plane where Ernesto waved goodbye to the family.

Aria gaped. "Did you just call the Blackbird a piece of junk?"

"Sorry, I keep forgetting you're obsessed with this crap." His tone was not at all apologetic.

"I know. It's crazy that some of us work here because we happen to like what's on display."

"You mean the tour guides and educators? Cause I don't think most janitors give two shits where they work. Cleanings, cleaning and that's that. At least I'm getting out of here."

Why did the man have to be so miserable all the time? Sure life wasn't all it was cracked up to be growing up, but that was just how it was. At least he had a wife and kids to come home to, unlike her. It wasn’t all bad though, she had a loyal dog and two horses. Well, the horses were technically her parents, but that was beside the point.

"In my defense, I did apply to be a guide, it just turned out they were only hiring janitors at the time."

"And how long ago was that? Three, four years ago?"

"Five, but that's beside the point," Aria said, her eyes fixed on the expansive body of the space shuttle that sat in the space exploration exhibit.

He shrugged. "Just thought after you graduate you're s'posed to get a job in that field."

Her eyes drifted back to meet his. "I only graduated a year ago, and I want to work here, just not as a janitor."

"Have you ever heard of the term 'overqualified'?"

"It's Astronomy, not rocket science."

Frank squinted at her out of the corner of his eye but said nothing.

It was true though, Astronomy wasn't a very competitive field. Sure there were some fantastic jobs out there such as researching for NASA, but the majority of graduates went on to basic educational jobs. In fact, educating guests at the National Museum would probably be an honor for aspiring astronomers.

They parted ways when Aria entered one of the public washrooms. The large sterile room was utterly empty. She took her bag off her shoulders and pulled out her gray jumpsuit. She pulled it over the sundress she wore, not bothering to take it off. After zipping it up, she put on her work boots. In the mirror, she took her time putting her long dark hair up in a ponytail. It was always a struggle to contain the mass of hair and have it not look like a disaster. Finally, she fixed her dark-framed glasses and was out the door.

She turned to go down the hall when something, or rather someone caught her eye. A man was lying on the floor, twitching strangely outside the men's bathroom. He wore a gray suit identical to hers. It was Frank. Was he having a seizure? He was fine just a minute ago when she left him.

Aria ran over to his side, kneeling down to get a closer look at him. Frank, are you okay? Do I need to call an ambulance?" she asked him.

In response, Frank started to jerk his eyes towards the men's washroom door. "Ba-bathroom," he wheezed out, looking back at her.

Her gaze turned from the downed man to the washroom door. What was in there that he wanted her to see? Maybe medication, or an EpiPen? With a nod, she ran into the washroom, ready to find whatever he was looking for.

Instead, she found four other twitching, huffing, and distressed looking security guards on the floor. Something was definitely wrong here. She backed out the door until she tripped over Frank, falling back partially on top of him.

"Sorry, Frank!" She glanced down at him in alarm, fearing she may have hurt him more.

The man merely let out another huffing noise.

Aria got up and brushed the stay hairs off her face. A faint buzzing and distant panicked voices caught her attention. What in the hell was going on here? Did the noise have something to do with the inebriated men in the bathroom?

Should she run away in case whatever happened to those men happened to her? Or should she find out exactly what was happening? No no, she should stay with the men and call an ambulance first and foremost.

She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and jammed in the numbers. Her hands shook with anxiety. What was going on? Maybe they were attacked. Did that mean she was in danger too?

The operator picked up after a single ring, and she explained the situation to them as calmly as possible. The operator responded by sending out a nearby ambulance.

More yells distracted Aria from the phone call. Something was going on. No longer able to resist, she stood up, sending Frank an apologetic look and told him she'd be right back. She grabbed the taser from his belt and took off towards the noise.

Catching up to the commotion, the source of the buzzing noise turned out to be a remote-controlled monster truck, and the voices belonged to four people, one girl, and three boys. The group was crowded in front of the Blackbird.

Aria had to stop and backpedal behind a nearby plane to avoid detection. There were four of them and only one of her. Her eyes flickered from the group to the taser in her hand. She had never even used a taser before, would they even be threatened by it? They somehow managed to inebriate every security guard in the building, so how could she stand a chance?

But they were obviously here for the Blackbird, and no one messed with the Blackbird, not while she was around. With a stealthy resolve, she sprung out from behind the plane, taser pointed at the group as if it were a gun.

"S-stopwhatyourdoing!" Instead of yelling, her voice came out higher pitched. Her face heated. That was not how she intended to sound.

The group spun around with alarmed expressions. One of the boys, who looked of Hispanic descent, even had the decency to put his hands up.

But that wasn't what caught her attention. No, it was the small toy truck transforming into a robot.

"What, never seen a Cybertronian before?"

An ear-piercing screech tore from her throat. There was no robot that advanced on this planet. It moved perfectly and spoke like it had a mind of its own. Human technology wasn't even close to this level. And yet, here it was in front of her.

"Whoa, calm down their lady," the older man spoke up, stretching out a placating hand. The others looked unsure of what to do, so they merely watched.

Despite the man addressing her directly, her eyes and taser never left the robot. "What the hell is that thing?"

"Don't worry about it, he's harmless. Just go home before you do anything too drastic."

"I'm right here," the robot muttered.

Sure he looked harmless with one eye like light dangling from its socket, but that was beside the point. These people broke into the museum, did something to the guards, and had a perfectly functioning robot with them, and they wanted her to just go home?! So when the police came knocking on her door, she could pretend nothing happened?

"You can't come here and tell me to go home! You have to leave, not me!"

"Uh, guys?"

Everyone's eyes landed on the piece of metal the short hair boy hand clasped in tweezers. Was the boy shaking it, or was it vibrating? She didn't spare it another thought because it flew out of the boy's raised hand and hit the Blackbird with a clank.

A pulse of energy rattled the large building. The girl and the short haired boy ran under the Jet's fuselage where that weird face looking symbol was. Like her, many have noticed it before. It was just another mysterious thing about the jet.

But instead of confusion or wonder like everyone else, the girl whipped her head towards the others and yelled, "It's a Decepticon!"

What the hell was a Decepticon?

An overwhelming tingling sensation made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. It was similar to the presence she always felt around the Blackbird but intensified tenfold.

The floor shook as the Blackbird started moving on its own accord. Parts noisily rearranged into limbs resembling as arms and legs. A head appeared, and it started coughing, trying to stand up while transforming. Aria's legs wobbled, and she fell to the ground.

The Blackbird was standing. Standing. They weren't supposed to do that. None of this was remotely possible. The Blackbird was a military plane from the sixties, not a massive robot. This had to be a dream. There was no way any of this was real.

"Behold! The eternal glory of Jetfire!" it hollered.

It had a name? It couldn't, and if it did, it would be Blackbird. The dumb aircraft didn't even know what it was! It was an SR-71 Blackbird, not a giant robot named Jetfire! The thing was hunched over using the biggest cane she had ever seen to make its way to the steel doors that were used to move massive air and spacecraft in and out of the building.

The older man turned to her. "Do not tell anyone, you hear me? Not a soul."

Aria swallowed and nodded. Without another word, the man ran to catch up with others.

The Blackbird pointed a mechanical arm at the doors, commanding them to open. When they didn't, it changed tactics and yelled fire. Again, nothing happened.

Getting angry, well it was already angry. Getting even angrier, it shouted fire again. This time a missile shot from its arm pointed at the steel door. It arced behind the robot and hit a hanging plane some ways behind it.

Aria jumped about six feet in the air at the noise, and another twelve when it exploded. Could the Blackbird not aim? Not only was it going to kill her, but it was going to destroy the museum in the process.

The giant robot resorted to swearing and smashing the doors down and wandering outside still yammering on. She was about to get up and run in the opposite direction, but her body refused to get up. So she sat there, eyes trained on the broken doors. This could be the most exciting this to ever happen to her. She would regret it for the rest of her life if she ran now. After what felt like hours, she took a deep breath, her decision made.

Instead of fleeing like a normal human being, she ran out the huge doors and followed the path of destruction towards the talking Blackbird.

A yellow Camero and two other smaller cars, one red and one green, were parked near the group. The short-haired boy was on his hands and knees doing…something. Coming closer, she could see he was carving strange symbols into the ground. He was damn lucky she wasn't in charge of the lawn.

The Hispanic boy was the first to notice her presence. He nudged the girl with his shoulder and pointed at Aria. "Mikaela, Mikaela, she's back! What do we do?"

The girl pried her attention away from the talking Blackbird. When her eyes met Aria’s, she strode towards her. “Look, I know you’re curious, but you have to leave.”

Leave? _Leave?_ And what, forget any of this happened? She witnessed an aircraft transform into a sentient robot who took out half the museum in under five minutes.

“And what, go home and forget everything that happened?”

“That’s exactly what you have to do, okay? These things are dangerous,” the girl named Mikaela said with a determined look in her eye.

 "What is she doing here?"

Aria and Mikaela both turned their attention to the older man marching up to them. His gaze was zeroed in on Aria, a deep frown on his lips.

"That's no way to treat a dame," the Blackbird interjected.

Simmons looked up at the robot with a disgruntled face. "Says who, huh? The senile robot that took out half a museum?"

"How the frag did I get caught up in this?" said the much smaller robot from beside the girl.

"Guys, guys! Let's just stop for a minute. Maybe we can talk this through." The Hispanic boy walked towards them, hands up to show he meant no harm.

At least one of them was willing to talk to her. "I would love that. Maybe you can explain how you turned a decommissioned aircraft into a talking robot?"

Said robot hammered his cane down into the grass. "Bullocks! I'll have you know the only decommissioned aircraft is the one I scanned before it crashed off the coast. I, however, am the glorious—"

"Jetfire!"

"Hrm?" The Blackbird looked down at the boy, now standing beside the symbols he carved into the ground.

He told Jetfire that the symbols were stuck in his head, and someone named Mega- something and "The Fallen" who was the original Decepticon.

At this point, she was totally lost. Just who were these people? And who were these robots that had so much history? The symbols the boy craved did not look like something robots would be able to read. They looked more like an ancient language akin to the first forms of Chinese characters.

And then there was that word. Deception. The others he mentioned, including The Fallen and himself were Decepticons. At least, that was what the Mikaela girl called him. But they sounded like the bad guys, and the people around her didn’t treat him like one, so maybe she was wrong?

It was all so much to take in.

The old Blackbird started hollering again after the boy's mention of The Fallen. He crowded them all together as he spouted nonsensical words. Apocalypse, chaos, mission, the Fallen's search, Dagger's tip, a key, hold on.

Wait… Hold on? Why are they holding on?

They were crowded together in between Jetfire's hands. The others panicked around her, only making the situation more frightening. They clearly had no idea what was happening, and neither did she.   

Flashes of light sparked from his massive fingers. The air buzzed around them, now supercharged with electricity. Static pricked at her skin like hundreds of bee stings growing more painful by the second.  The sensation of weightlessness consumed her being, then blinding white light.

And then nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters are betaed by the lovely Sailor Luck! I would like to thank her for taking my story to the next level!


	2. Behold, the Glory!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aria meets the perfectly sane Jetfire.

Red light filtered through Aria's eyelids as she regained consciousness. Strange, she couldn't recall going to sleep. She opened her eyes, only for them to be assaulted by intense sunlight that made her squeeze them shut again and fling an arm over her face. A sharp pain pounded in her head. What…happened?

After a moment, she sat up, her hands digging into the soft sand. Clutching some in her palm, she brought her hand up and let it pour back on the ground through her fingers. Was she at the beach? Looking around, there was nothing but sand as far as the eye could see with no sign of water. This definitely wasn't the beach.

"What the hell?" she mumbled, propping herself up with an elbow. It looked more like a desert, and there were no deserts in Washington.

She squeezed her eyes shut. What was the last thing she did? She got up, did chores, went to work…

Work! She talked to Frank, followed voices, and discovered that the Blackbird was actually a robot! Her memories blurred during the events leading up to the flash of light, the robot had said something about a space bridge. But a space bridge was a portal. And a portal meant…that she was transported?

Aria looked around again. This wasn't real. It couldn't be! Teleportation wasn't possible. This was just a hoax. A very elaborate, cruel hoax.

She had to get home, go take care of her pets! Where were the other people? Did they just leave her here in the middle of nowhere to fend for herself? She didn’t ask to be a part of this. She was only trying to stop them. They couldn’t just break in, turn the Blackbird into a robot, then leave.

She needed to get out of her now!

She closed her eyes, attempting to calm her racing heart. Panicking wasn't helping the situation. All she had to do was get up and find out what was going on. That was step one. Step two would be going home where she would wrap herself in a blanket and read on the couch and pretend nothing ever happened.

She picked up her glasses that were lying in the sand beside her, doing her best to shake the sand off before putting them back on.

In the distance was the sound of an engine. She stood and looked around. Further out was a yellow vehicle shining in the sunlight. It was the Camaro from the museum. It was driving further away from her, followed by the smaller red and green cars. Did the Blackbird teleport the cars too?

She raised her arms up half-heartedly in an attempt to wave them down. It was no use, they were too far. Her body was nothing but a spec in their rearview mirror. Should she try to follow? No, that was a dumb idea. Even if she ran, she would never catch up. The sandy terrain was endless. It was the type if environment she could easily die in if she made any irrational decisions. She would have to find another way out of this, whatever _this_ was.

The air was hot and dry and paired with her growing apprehension, it was suffocating. She rolled up the sleeves of her uniform and unzipped it low enough to air out her neck. Would that old robot be here somewhere? Would the people come back?

In retrospect, following them outside the museum had been a dumb idea. Why didn't she stay with Frank and the others and wait for the ambulance to arrive? No, she just had to find out what was going on, had to follow the talking robot outside. Now, look where that got her. Oh, that's right, she didn't even know!

She took a breath. "Stay calm," she said. "Everything's fine."

There was a strange noise carrying over the gentle breeze. It was familiar, like talking. She turned towards the source, which was somewhere behind her. Sure enough, sitting upon a pile of flat, sand-covered rocks, sat a certain aircraft missing from a particular museum.

The rock formation was scattered and looked like it wouldn't be too difficult to climb. She walked over to it and began to scale up the rocks. The robot didn't seem like a threat, he had been willing to help the other people so that would mean he'd help her, right?

As she climbed, the noise turned out to be the old robot muttering about something. To who though, was a mystery, seeing as the people had left. Peeking over the edge, her musing was confirmed, the SR-71 Blackbird was talking to nobody but himself. She ducked down again, so her back was pressed against the ledge she had been peaking over.

Now that she was here, maybe talking to the Blackbird wasn't a good idea. What was she supposed to say? The giant robot looking thing was obviously not mentally stable, not to mention the fact he could easily squish her without so much as noticing. Talking to the Blackbird seemed more like taking her life in her own hands than having a constructive conversation the more she thought about it. She had to though, the robot was responsible for bringing her here, so it was probably the only way she going to get back home from…wherever she was.

Alright, all she had to do was ask the giant robot where she was. If some kids could confront him, then she could too! Putting her hands back on the ledge, she climbed up.

The robot jumped slightly at her sudden entrance. For a moment, she stood there at a loss. Maybe she should start by waving and saying a simple "Hello."

Unfortunately, the Blackbird didn't give her the chance, leaning in inches from her face. "Who're you?" he spat.

She leaped backward at the sudden movement into her personal space, tripping and falling back. The old robot responded by leaning even closer.

"I-I'm Aria," she managed to reply. "Who are you?" she added quickly.

The Blackbird tilted his head making his long metal beard screech and spark against the rock.

"Aria? That's a boring name for a fleshling!" He blinked his weird red glowing eyes and jabbed her stomach rather painfully with a pointy metallic finger.

She went to reply, but her mouth refused to form words. It didn't matter anyway, the massive robot didn't give her a chance.

"You fleshlings can hardly talk! So quiet and jittery, like little fleshy insects," he emphasized his words by jabbing her yet again. "You're lucky I changed sides to the Autobots, or I would have squished you by now!" he suddenly paused, bringing a hand up to his chin. "Then again your disgusting life fluids might rust my foot, and I'm falling apart as it is, without your help! Are you listening to what I'm saying! I am Jetfire, damn it!"

Well, even if she didn't know what an Autobot was, she was happy that it meant she was wasn't going to be intentionally squashed by the robot. That being said, being stepped on unintentionally was still highly plausible. The massive robot was already pacing again, going on about something else.

"Now as I was saying, the Matrix is the key to the Energon collection machine. But it may also work to bring back the Prime who is the only one that can kill the Fallen. But you must hurry, or it will be too late! And your sun will be no more!"

Aria put her hands up in front of her, trying to get his attention. There was that talk again, none of which made any sense. Matrix's, Energon, Prime's, It was all nonsense being spewed from a mysterious robot that transformed into a plane.

She didn't know where to begin. It was like an entire world she didn't know about had just reviled itself to her. Actually, she was sucked in against her will.

"Jetfire, I'll be honest, I have no idea what you are talking about. Could you maybe start from the beginning?" she asked.

A rush of air blew past her as Jetfire sat down on its giant robotic behind. "Alright fleshling, you want a story told from the glorious Jetfire himself in all his eternal glory, do you?"

Unsure of what else to do, she also sat down cross-legged on the rough surface, pebbles digging into her legs. She nodded.

Honestly, she didn't have the slightest clue of what this robot was about to tell her. Maybe he was a science experiment gone wrong? A military weapon with artificial intelligence that somehow became sentient? He did turn into a decommissioned reconnaissance aircraft after all.

"We are originally from the planet Cybertron, though it was destroyed centuries ago," he began. "I was once a great Decepticon seeker—"

…From the planet Cybertron? Planet?

The rest of the robot's words turned into a hazy mess in the back of her mind. Something clicked inside of her. Like she had been stumbling around in a dark room all her life, and someone finally turned on a light.

He was from a different planet.

This thing, this robot, was an alien. Not a squishy creature with long tendrils for limbs, but a metal man capable of making portals through space.

She had always believed in the existence of aliens. Every star in the universe had the possibility of sustaining life. But actually seeing one? Well, the odds were quite frankly astronomical. And her, there at the museum at the exact time and place to witness not one, but two reveal themselves, she couldn't comprehend it. Hell, she had been in the presence of one for five years now.

"—You even listening, fleshling?"

Aria snapped back into reality, her eyes meeting with the aliens' red ones. She found herself now trying to take in every detail of this being. Was it a coincidence that he resembled a human? Was anything a coincidence at this point?

"I—you're from a different planet?"

"That's what I said! Cybertron was our home before it was destroyed by eons of war. Now we are scattered throughout space, searching for resources to rebuild our home."

These aliens were all over space? Had they met other alien life forms as well, or were humans the only ones so far? Did they specifically choose earth because of its resources? There were two here for sure, but seeing as they can disguise themselves as planes and toy trucks, there could very well be more.

"How many of you are here on Earth?"

Jetfire hummed in contemplation. "It's hard to say. I've been in stasis for so long, I don't know who's come and went."

"Stasis? As in dormant?"

Wait, he had said that he scanned a Blackbird in the Bermuda Triangle. Did that mean that was when he took on its appearance? She was sure he hadn't transformed at least since arriving at the Udvar-Hazy Center, seeing as he had no recollection of where he was and destroyed half the place in less than five minutes.

"It's like sleep to you fleshlings. We use it to maximize our Energon reserves."

Energon—that was one of the things he mentioned earlier. So it was like fuel?

"What exactly is Energon?" she asked, leaning back on her hands.

"It is our life essence! It’s our food, our blood, our bodies! Without it we deteriorate, fall apart and die! Much like my wretched self!" he yelled and slammed his cane into the rocky surface.

The display made Aria flinch. If this old decrepit robot—alien was still this intimidating and powerful, then what would a fully able one be capable of?

She tried to put the story together as she knew it so far. "So you need this Energon stuff to live, but you've run out…because your planet was destroyed? And now you're on Earth because there is a machine here that can make more?"

"That is what I said. But we cannot let it happen! If the Star Harvester is activated, it will destroy the sun, and this planet will be no more!"

What kind of machine-made energy by destroying a star? And where would a machine capable of such a thing be hidden? Most of all, why Earth? As many stars that may have sustained life, there must have been countless more that did not. Why not use those ones?

Wait, Jetfire kept mentioning something, or someone called "The Fallen," were they the cause of the civil war great enough to engulf a planet? Did Jetfire bring those people here to stop them?

"And all of this is because of the Fallen one?"

"Yes, The Fallen is one of the ancient Primes that went against their one rule: never destroy a star that supported life. He tried to activate the machine long ago, but failed when the other primes took the Matrix and hid it somewhere in this very desert."

Aria abruptly stood up. “Wait, wait, wait! Desert? Which desert? The Mojave?”

“No, no, fleshing, this is what you humans call the Sahara Desert. Don’t you know your own planet? Bah!”

…The _Sahara_ desert? But the Sahara desert was in Egypt! Surely this alien robot was mistaken. Egypt was thousands of miles away, across the ocean. He was wrong, he had to be! She wasn’t ready to die in the middle of nowhere in a foreign country! No one would ever find her here!

“Jetfire, I need to go home! Can you teleport me back? _Please_?”

“Create another space bridge? That’s bullocks! I won’t be able to create another one for—“ Jetfire paused, narrowing his red eyes. “Oh what’s it called on this planet—a lunar cycle!”

“A lunar cycle…as in a month? I can’t wait a month!”

She had animals to take care of! By then, someone would take notice of her disappearance and file a missing persons report. Her parents would panic, her animals would be taken, her home would be seized. And that wasn’t even considering the fact that she might not survive for that long.

Wait, Jetfire was a Blackbird. Was it possible for him to turn back into it? Maybe he could go back to Washington the old fashioned way?

“Could you turn back into a plane and fly to Washington?”

Jetfire slammed his cane into the ground. “I can’t fly yet! I only just woke up! The space bridge took enough energy as it is, and now you expect me to go flying back there?”

So he could turn back into the Blackbird then. The fact he couldn’t transform must have had to do with the Energon stuff he mentioned. Still, he didn’t need to get so offended. All she wanted was to go home.

It was back to plan A, then: get to the people.

“I’m sorry for assuming, Jetfire. Can you tell me how to get to the others, then? Maybe I can find a way back with them.”

“They’re already miles out and my scanners show they’re still moving. Your tiny legs would have no chance of catching up with ‘em before certain death befalls you.”

“So what, I just stay here with you until I die anyways?”

“No need to be dramatic, fleshling. Once the boy gets to the Prime, we’ll go see ‘im. Those fleshings will be there, so we’ll both get what we want.”

It wasn’t the solution she envisioned, but sticking with the decrepit alien was a better idea than going off into the desert on her own. And if what he told her so far was true, then she agreed with him. Who knows, other people could be there too.

“Alright, it’s a deal.”

“Deal? I don’t make deals with humans!”

Before Jetfire freaked out and changed his mind, she switched back previous topic. It was vital that she know as much about The Fallen as possible, since tagging along was the only way she was getting out of here.

"So as you were saying, The Fallen is back now, and trying to activate the machine? And those people are supposed to stop him?"

Honestly, she would like to know how four people could stop an alien from blowing up the sun. Did they have backup she didn't know about?

"The boy's job is simple. He is to reactivate the Prime, the only one who can stop him."

"You mean one of the Primes that tried to lock the Matrix away?"

"Of course not,” Jetfire spat. “Those Primes are long dead. This Prime is a descendant, and the only one strong enough to challenge The Fallen for possession of the Matrix."

So there were at least a few other aliens on Earth then. Some good, and some evil, apparently.

"How long has this all been going on?"

Jetfire looked up contemplating. "The machine was built in seventeen thousand BC in this planets time, I believe."

She was awestruck. These aliens have been here for tens of thousands of years. They were so advanced they could travel across space, build weapons capable of destroying planets and create space bridges. Every time she tried to wrap her mind around it, more and more questions surfaced.

"You mean you've been here for that long?"

"Some of us, yes. Many have come and gone throughout the cycles. Hard to tell who's all here, being as we stay hidden and all."

"So the Prime is here on Earth, and the people that left a while ago are going to help it defeat the Fallen?"

"Haven't I already told you this a hundred times, fleshing?"

The old robot went to get up using his cane. However, it slipped from under him and fell over. "Bullocks!" he shouted, reaching to pick it up.

Just like that, he lost all sense of focus and began rambling nonsense again.

Aria was finally starting to make sense of what Jetfire was talking about. The evil robot wanted the energy that the machine collected by destroying their sun. And the people wanted the key to the machine, not to start it, but to bring back the Prime to kill the evil robot and save the world. She wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't been told this by a towering alien robot himself.

The sun was now low in the sky now, and the events of the day were starting to catch up with her. She adjusted her legs to allow better circulation and leaned her head on her shoulder as she continued to watch the Blackbirds over exaggerated mannerisms.

The fifty-foot alien robot was pacing back and forth waving his arms in the air, yammering on about the Matrix of Leadership, earning it not finding it, and so on. Instead of asking him more questions, she now chose to listen to the ramblings seeing if there was anything else she could learn from the eccentric robot.

In a single day, she went from the museum to Egypt, learned about an alien race hiding on Earth, and a machine that could kill everyone if it was activated. How she of all people got mixed up in it all, she didn't know. But it made her wonder…would her life ever be the same again?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to thank my beta Sailor Luck!


	3. Sacrifice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aria goes for a ride.

Aria awoke confused and disorientated. At least this time her memory came back a lot faster. She was in Egypt with an alien Blackbird.

The sun was already high above, beating down mercilessly on her exposed arms, face, and neck. Her throat burned, never had it felt so dry before. She licked her chapped lips, desperate for water.

Aria propped herself up on her elbow and looked for the old robot, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Panic set in and she shot up to take in the surroundings. Still no sign of him. That dumb old robot had left her alone in the middle of an Egyptian desert. No food, no water, nothing!

"Jetfire!" she called, cupping her hands on either side of her mouth.

Now standing, she paced over to the edge of the rocks. Maybe he fell off the side during one of his intensely intrapersonal conversations. As she neared the edge, something wet squished under her boot, and she slipped on unexpected substance.

She let out a screech as the weightless feeling caused her stomach to flop. Everything happened in slow motion. Her limbs flailed and hit the rocks as she fell. The ground came closer and closer until finally, everything went black.

When Aria's vision came back into focus, it was obstructed by sand. For a moment her body was numb. All she could really tell was that she was lying face down on the ground. Ever so slowly, feeling returned to her body. Nothing felt broken, but she had a sneaking suspicion that there were going to be some cuts and bruises when she got a look at herself.

After another minute or so of gathering her bearings, she shakily got into a sitting position. She attempted to wipe the sand off her mouth with the back of her arm, but it only caused more sand to scratch at her face and lips.

Looking up, Aria was nothing less than astonished that she wasn't dead. Somehow she avoided most the sharp edges that jetted out all over the side of the rock formation.

Now she was curious about what she slipped on in the first place, she pulled off her left boot and examined its sole while sand poured out from the inside. The substance was dark and viscous, like oil but not quite. It was probably the same liquid that dripped from the old Blackbird whenever he moved or talked for that matter.

How did she not notice, was she blind? She found herself reaching for her glasses on her face. Yes, they were still there, albeit a bit bent.

It wasn't until she pulled off her other boot that a stinging sensation crept its way down her arm. Twisting the limb to get a better look, there was a long jagged cut on her right elbow that stretched down to her wrist. Blood started to soak her uniform and run down her hand. That was going to get painful once the shock wore off.

After she pulled off her other boot and socks too for good measure, she raised her arm to get a better look. It was a pretty gross mix of blood, small rocks, and sand. She went to pull out the most massive piece of rock, gasping at the pain as she did so. At least she would die of dehydration before having to worry about the pain of an infection.

She stretched her legs out in front of her. The gentle breeze cooled her exposed feet, drawing her attention to how hot the rest of her body was. She shrugged off the stifling jumpsuit, revealing the simple sundress she wore underneath.

The breeze immediately cooled her down as it came into contact with her sweat covered skin. Blood from her arm smeared onto the white fabric. It would have been unfortunate, if not for the more pressing circumstances.

Not bothering to put the sweaty socks or boots back on, she began her search for Jetfire, leaving them and her uniform behind in the blowing sand.

The sun was now on the west side of the sky, and Aria's shadow grew long in the sand. She sat against a rock and watched the sky for any signs of Jetfire, her injured arm cradled on her chest. It itched and stung, making her vision blur with unshed tears.

Her search ended hours ago. She didn't dare venture out of sight of the rocks Jetfire had sat the day before in case he came back, but he never did. Now she sat against them, praying for his return. Even if she wanted to search more, she was too tired to. Her stomach growled, and her throat itched. It was already taking most of her effort just to keep her eyes open.

It was still difficult to believe everything that was happening. Aliens were advanced robot-like beings that could transform into human machines. Not only that, but they've been on Earth for millions of years, hiding in plain sight. Jetfire couldn't answer her question of how many here, so she was left to speculate. Seeing as they could disguise themselves as anything it was impossible to tell. Were there just a few, or were there thousands? Have they been seen before and covered up by the government?

Then there was the Mission City cover-up that happened a few years ago. The media exploded about a government experiment gone wrong. Conspiracists came out of nowhere, claiming all sorts of ridiculous notions, alien invasion being one of them. Of course, like all other instances, Aria wasn't convinced.

And now, here she was, in Egypt because an alien accidentally transported her here.

The sound of a jet flying overhead drew her from her thoughts. She craned her neck, and sure enough, their one was. However, it wasn't the telltale shape of an SR-71 Blackbird. No, it was another distinct military jet. An F-22 Raptor.

Did it have something to do with the star harvesting machine?

Her eyes followed the jet across the orange sky. So the military was involved then. There was no way that an F-22 was flying over the Egyptian desert without reason. It was strange that they only sent one plane, though. She would have thought that a machine capable of destroying the sun would at least warrant sending a fleet for air support.

Then again, Jetfire seemed to think that a kid could save the world by reviving a Prime to defeat The Fallen, so what did she know?

It wasn't until the thundering sound of a second jet that she turned her head back towards the direction the Raptor had come from. This time it actually was Jetfire. He came back for her.

The matte black jet's nose was pointed sharply at the ground, its trajectory uncomfortably close to where she sat.

The pain of her arm forgotten, she jumped up and ran to the far side of the rock formation. She had yet to see Jetfire land, and severely doubted it would be grateful.

Not a second later, the ground shook with the plane's impact. She threw her arms up in an attempt to protect herself. Sand sprayed her, feeling more like needles on her flesh. A moment later, everything settled, and the only noise was groaning metal. She opened her eyes and lowered her arms. Her gaze fell on a tall cloud of sand and dust and the old alien robot, Jetfire, walking out of it unscathed.

"You're back!" she exclaimed.

Although anger would have been the more sensible emotion to feel after being abandoned, it was relief and happiness that filled her. She ran up to the confused looking alien robot who was gawking up at the rocks that he perched on the day before, scratching his head. He didn't acknowledge her yelling at him until he almost stepped on her.

Letting out a scream, Aria turned and ran the opposite direction fearing for her life. This is what bugs must feel like.

"Where're you going, fleshling?" he said.

The next thing she knew, she was harshly lifted into the air by a giant hand grabbing her. She flailed her arms and legs screaming, further irritating her parched throat. Was he going to drop her?

"Stop that squawking!" The old robot spat, bringing Aria to his face. "What is this?"

Aria stilled as the massive alien brought her close to his face. His eye focused in on the bloody cut on her arm.

"Blood, eh? Trying to look like a proper warrior? I commend your enthusiasm, but, you're supposed to sustain wounds in battle, not before!"

"I am not a warrior! And more importantly, where were you? I thought you left me to die out here!"

Jetfire's face grew angry. "I told you already! I went to go look for Prime, but just as I was making headway, I realized that I had forgotten you! Don't you remember anything?"

That…didn't make any sense. If he told her he was leaving, he would have brought her along. He had clearly forgotten about her until after he left.

She attempted to reason with the Blackbird. "But you-"

"Don't you start with me, fleshling!" he interrupted, shaking her. "Now are you coming to see the Prime or not?"

Grandpa Blackbird was getting impatient. The constant swaying of his hand, while he talked, was making her motion sick.

Of course, she wanted to see the Prime and the people, they were her only hope of getting home. But she also didn't want to be anywhere near the star harvesting machine, or The Fallen for that matter. The F-22 flying overhead also wasn't a great sign. There was guaranteed to be some sort of fight going on there, between either the alien robots fighting each other, or them fighting the military.

Then again, if the military was there, she could get help from them instead. She could go there, immediately find the first soldier and ask them for help. Not like they could say no, she was a civilian after all.

She nodded her head.

The sound of pneumatics and shifting metal filled her ears. The hand she was it let go, and she was dropped into a seat while everything still moving around her. A seatbelt strapped her into position.

As the sound came to a stop, she found herself sitting in a cockpit, surrounded by hundreds of buttons, knobs, and gages. The lever on her right started to move forward. "Holy shit." She was in the Blackbird.

Didn't people train years for this? She was okay with stationary jets, but she never had so much as looked inside one unless it was on display. This, however, was crazy. In front of her was an oxygen mask. She hastily tried to put in on. Pilots wore space suits when they flew this jet, and she wasn't even wearing shoes. Did the Blackbird even know what he was capable of in this form?

The jet engines came to life, and everything rumbled and shook around her. It was unreal. She was sitting in the cockpit of an alien Blackbird.

The lever moved forward into the halfway position, and the Blackbird started to pick up speed. Her body was pressed back into the weathered seat. The rumbling of the engines became more intense, the already deafening sound getting louder and louder. Needing something to hold onto, she grabbed at the control wheel, praying that it wouldn't upset Jetfire and cause him to crash.

"Oh my god," Aria continued to repeat to herself. This couldn't be happening. Could jets even take off in the sand? No no, he wasn't a jet, he was an alien.

The lever slid the rest of the way forward. The Blackbird that Aria didn't even think could fly as of yesterday, was about to take off. The jet went faster and faster, and bumps got harder until the jet would leave the ground and then hit it again. Like an out of control rollercoaster launching into the sky. Bile rose to her throat. She was going to die before her twenty-fifth birthday.

The Blackbird was now entirely in air and continuing to climb, still increasing speed. Even with her eyes wide open, dark spots filled her vision from the intense g-forces. Breathing became difficult, but it was hard to tell whether it was from lack of oxygen or hyperventilation. Just remaining conscious was a battle.

Before long, Jetfire was rapidly decelerating. Her vision came back and her gaze fixed on the sight out the window. They were heading straight into a war zone.

Giant metal aliens scattered about old ruins, attacking each other. Bullets flew everywhere, landing with clouds of sand and smoke. Maybe she should have chosen dehydration.

Before she could contemplate her death further, a voice boomed around her.

"Incoming!"

He seat disappeared as fast as the seat belt came undone. The cockpit came apart before her eyes and the next thing she knew, she was in a large hand still traveling at breakneck speed.

The ground grew alarmingly close until finally, the jolt of impact rattled her body. Jetfire must have rolled because at one point she was upside down before being let go.

Aria barrel rolled in the sand about seven times before she came to a stop. The scrape on her arm burned as if it were on fire. She twisted her wrist to get a better look, sure enough, it bleeding again and was filled with more sand than before. She slowly got up, still disorientated. When she shifted her focus to the surroundings, everything was blurry. She lost her glasses at some point during the fall.

Distant shouting of people echoed over the ringing of gunfire. Blasts and bangs of much larger guns and cannons stirred up walls of sand, making the ground quake. Dust in the air was filled with the scent of burning rubber and something metallic. There were tattered stone buildings scattered throughout the battleground, many of them left in shambles, still smoking from whatever weapon caused the destruction.

A stray bullet whizzed past her, snapping her out of her trance and sending her in a beeline for a nearby half crumbled wall. Small bits of the old stone crumpled under her fingers as she peeked out from behind it.

Forget crazy, Jetfire was insane in bringing her here. How was she supposed to defend herself? Even if she did somehow still have the taser, it would be no use. Did those people seriously come here to revive the Prime?

Just past the old buildings were three massive pyramids lined up in a row. The Pyramids of Giza. On top of the largest one was the biggest robot she'd ever seen. It dug at the peak, sending chunks of stone tumbling down the sides.

She tore her eyes away from the monstrosity when she caught sight of Jetfire fighting another, much smaller robot. Well, it wasn't much of a fight, the challenger was already in two pieces. The old Blackbird then had another under his foot and yelled something at it.

Aria couldn't make out his words over the constant gunfire. Sand borrowed up, and another foreign looking robot flew out of the ground just as Jetfire crushed the other red-eyed alien under his foot. It caught him around the middle and proceeded to drill straight through, bits of metal flying everywhere.

"Jetfire!" she yelled as the scorpion looking robot came after him a second time. The old Blackbird pulled it out along with most of his chest and fell over. He punched its head which splattered weird fluid all over the sand.

She broke out into a run towards the downed robot. There was no way he could die. After all, this was over, he had to go back to the museum where he belonged.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a group of soldiers running away from a cloud of orange smoke among them was the boy and the girl from the museum. She stopped dead in her tracks. Did she go back to Jetfire, or get to the people?

Her decision was put on hold when a whistling sound from above dulled all other noise. It was the planes overhead dropping bombs.

Jetfire's giant hand grabbed her, bringing her under him for protection. He hollered something, but Aria couldn't make out the words through the falling bombs. She covered her ears, but it did nothing to muffle the sound. The first hits were the closest. As they went on, they got further away.

It was quiet for only a second before the next wave came down all at once. Whining, then impact, then the explosion. The ground wouldn't stop shaking.

Finally, silence fell over the desert. The hand she was in started moving. Jetfire rolled to the side, looking at her. Everything was gone around them, reduced to nothing but rubble in the sand.

"-you listening to me, fleshling?" Came Jetfire's booming voice. Aria weakly turned her head to acknowledge the alien robot.

"What are you doing here? Get to your humans, damn it!"

If Aria weren't in shock, she would have laughed. "I can't," she said.

She couldn't leave Jetfire's protection. More bombs could drop at any moment. She could be shot, attacked, stepped on. It was hopeless. She was going to be killed. She would never see her family again. Never experience the rest of her life. She would die a janitor with no achievements other than a degree.

"Now's not the time to lose your spirit, fleshling. A warrior can never give up."

She lifted her gaze from the ground up to the old robot. "I told you before, I'm not a warrior. I'm just a girl."

"Girl, boy, human, Cybertronian, it doesn't matter! Being a warrior isn't about being strong. It's about having courage and perseverance. To overcome the odds not succumb to them!"

As Jetfire spoke, he staggered onto his feet. She couldn't deny the sincerity of his words, nor the effort of his actions. While she sat in defeat with nothing more than a scratch on her arm, Jetfire stood although half his torso was missing.

He was right. Anyone had the capacity to become a warrior, but did she have what it took to achieve it? Between her and the others was a battlefield that she had to cross. All she had to do was make it there.

"Will…" She turned her gaze back from the fight ahead back towards Jetfire's piercing eyes. "Will you come with me?"

A selfish request, but she couldn't do this alone. All Jetfire wanted to do was see the Prime in action, but already his body was mangled from an unsuspected foe only minutes after arriving. Had he known coming here was a death wish? Was there an alternative motive to his actions?

"Let's go then, fleshling."

Aria walked beside the Jetfire, who now limped beside her. They headed through the clearing towards the people. She took each step slowly as if the next could be her last. Her eyes were peeled, taking in everything around her.

There were two different types of robots as far as she could tell. Most of them were menacing, and… jagged, for lack of a better word.

The others, who were outnumbered were much more colorful and had bright blue eyes. The military didn't shoot at those ones. They must have been on the same side as Jetfire, then. Was one of them the Prime?

Her eyes landed on a dark robot in the distance. A bad one? The dark robot had guns the size of tree trunks mounted to its arms. It aimed with precision, firing on other bad ones. As it dodged and parried the others, it became clear that it was not a bad one. Yes, it had blue eyes. It was good.

A metallic roar screeched from right behind her. She and Jetfire reacted instantaneously to the noise. Aria whipped around and brought her arms up. Jetfire turned as well, and in the time it took her to process what was about to happen, he neutralized the treat. In a single movement, Jetfire swung his cane and decapitated it. The body fell, green liquid flowing from where its head once was.

Not a moment later, another red-eyed alien charged at them, gun poised to shoot. She turned and dug a foot into the sand preparing to propel herself away. Before she could take another step, the ground shook, and the force of a blast knocked her off her feet.

Jetfire caught her mid-air. He fired back at the assailant with a missile of his own. It made contact and blew the robot apart.

Jetfire placed her back on the ground. "Get to the others!"

He tilted his head toward a red and white helicopter not too far off in front of them. Men in uniforms rushed out towards people on the ground. It was the girl from the museum who was yelling at the boy lying on the ground. Off to the side was what looked like another robot lying under a green parachute.

Jetfire then stood taller than ever and faced two more approaching enemy robots. When she didn't budge, he gave her a meaningful look and a nod.

She turned and ran as Jetfire readied himself to attack.

Ahead of her, the group moved further away towards the tarp covered alien. The was up and looked to be carrying a glowing object, what it actually was though, she couldn't tell without her glasses.

Soldiers gathered around the sleeping giant, and a couple uncovered its top half, exposing its significantly damaged chest. The boy climbed up onto the robot, still holding a strange glowing object.

She slowed to a final stop behind some soldiers. There were no enemies nearby, so she watched the boy.

"The Matrix of Leadership."

Startled by the sudden noise, she jumped. Behind her, Jetfire came to a stop and kneeled down. He looked worse for wear, leaning heavily on his cane. Aria took a few steps closer to him. Alien robots were new to her, but seeing him like this, he didn't have much time.

If his fate was inevitable, he didn't acknowledge it. Instead, he watched the scene ahead, transfixed like the others.

The boy raised the Matrix above his head and with a shout, brought it down into the robot's chest. As it made contact, static filled the air.

The robot made a strange sound like gasping and whirling air. It coughed sand from its mouth as the parachute blew off it as if some unnatural force came from its mechanical body.

Slowly getting into an upright position, it spoke.

"Boy, you came back for me."

Its voice was…otherworldly.

"A living Prime! I don't believe it!" Jetfire coughed while crawling closer and bracing himself with the broken wall in front of him. Wires hung from his gaping chest wound.

So this was the Prime? It was big but still dwarfed by Jetfire. Her eyes wondered over its entire form, taking in the vast differences between him and the Blackbird. Red and blue metal decorated its body, scratched and dirty from whatever it had previously been though. Though injured, it had an air of authority unlike anything else. And its eyes… its eyes were the brightest blue she'd ever seen.

The Prime looked up to the sky, Aria followed its line of sight to see another strange looking robot flying towards it. The flying thing disappeared momentarily before reappearing right in front of the weakened Prime. Was that The Fallen?

Just the force sent her, the Prime, as well as the other friendly robots and people around it to the ground. The flying robot then disappeared again, reappearing to attack some helpless soldiers. It stole the Matrix from the Prime, and once again it disappeared. The Prime tried to get up but seemed unable to.

"Oh no," Jetfire muttered, his red eyes fading as he looked on at the Prime.

Aria got back to her feet and placed her hand on his elbow. The dying alien looked back at her.

The moment was lost as the sound of gunfire and missiles returned. Aria plugged her ears with both hands. The military's guns were aimed at the top of the pyramid with a metal structure that was now exposed. It must have been the Star Harvester. No wonder no one knew about its existence, the Egyptians built a world wonder around it.

The powerful flying robot lifted his staff like weapon. Tanks and rocks surrounding the uncovered machine began to float high in the air. A moment later, they fell back down to Earth when gravity returned.

That alien must be The Fallen. Like Jetfire, it could teleport as if it were an easy feat. And if what she just witnessed actually happened, it could also manipulate gravity. What could the Prime do to pose a threat to such a being?

"All my Decepticon life, I never did a thing worth living until now."

Her eyes shifted to Jetfire. The finality of his words was jarring. Was this the same Blackbird that she met yesterday?

He regarded her with dimmed eyes. "Aria, you're a warrior now. You remember what that means, don't you?"

"…Never give up?" she said.

"Even if it seems hopeless, there's always something you can do," he said and poked her chest with a finger. "Just follow your spark,"

Before she could even begin to formulate a response, Jetfire turned back to the Prime who now looked back at him.

"Optimus, take my parts, and you will have a power you've never known," he said and reached into the hole in his chest. "Fulfill your destiny."

In one swift motion, he pulled a blue sphere out of his chest and held it out towards the Prime. He fell forward, landing on the ground. Motionless.

"Jetfire!" she screamed.

Things started to go quiet again, her vision fixed on the fading blue sphere. Everything that surrounded it faded to black until it was all that left.

He was dead. Just like that.

_"Ironhide, get that girl out of here!"_

A man’s voice? No, it didn’t matter.  Nothing mattered. Jetfire was dead.

Her body was scooped up by an unknown source while two other robots, one yellow and one blue, came towards Jetfire's body. No, leaving him was out of the question. Never taking her eyes off Jetfire, she went to move her legs to no avail. Her body didn’t respond, too heavy to move, too numb to feel. All she could do was stare.

The blue robot shot cables out attaching one to the fallen Blackbird and one to the Prime who was now crawling towards him.

The metal plates that made up Jetfire's body rapidly disassembled and attached to the Prime's body, the red and blue parts now partially covered by Jetfire's worn black ones. It stood to full height with the stature of that of a deity.

"Let's roll," he said and took off into the sky. His alien allies following him into battle.

The hand that held her placed her back down on the ground further away from other robots. Her attention though was back on Jetfire. All that remained of him was a metal skeleton. In his hand was still the blue orb he pulled from his chest. It was the only part the Prime didn't take.

She had only known him for a day. Completely senile at first, but then, his real personality began to shine through. He was old and wise despite his eccentric character.

He didn't have to tell her anything. Could have stepped on her or left her behind. But no, he helped her. A nobody.

Not only that, but he actually believed in her. Her, of all people. He called her a warrior, told her that she had the courage and perseverance that it took.

He stayed by her side, protected her, encouraged her. And then, he sacrificed himself for the sake of the Prime and the planet.

He was a warrior.

There was another explosion. Aria jumped at the sound and looked up to see the machine destroyed and the Prime as well as another alien robot toppling down the side of the pyramid. The once floating rocks falling around them.

With the enemies distracted, she bolted towards Jetfire, grabbing the sphere. The rusted metal shell broke apart, leaving a much small orb in its place. It was a foreign material that looked like some sort of mix between glass and crystal, the last of the blue glow coming from inside it. The least she could do was take it home and bury it in her flower garden.

She stayed by his body until the gunfire faded in the distance. No more enemy robots remained. Above, two jets took off from somewhere in ruins. One was an F-22 with strange markings, but the other was unrecognizable. Alarms went off in her head. It wasn't a military aircraft. In fact, it wasn't a human aircraft at all. It must have been one of them.

Once the jets were out of sight, she got back up and looked around the battlefield. She spotted the nearest soldier and ran up to him, the orb cradled in her good arm.

The man turned to face her as she neared. Sand and ash clung to the sweat on his face. His eyes were tired, yet wide and alert.

"Do you need assistance?" he asked. His eyes scanned her body, zeroing in on her bloody arm.

"Yes, I need to get home. I'm not from here, and I haven't had water for almost two days now."

He nodded and pulled a canteen from one of his many pockets, handing it to her. "Where are you from?"

"D.C.," she replied simply and took a very long drink. The liquid soothed her parched throat.

He gave her a weird look. "Come on, let's go check out that arm of yours, then we'll talk more."

"Alright," she said.

He glanced at her from over his shoulder. "My name's William Lennox."

"I'm Aria."

She paused for a moment and turned to the battlefield. Her eyes landed on Jetfire's body one last time. Her whispered thank you, lost to the soft wind.

While the medic was bandaging her arm in the back of a medical vehicle, the victorious Prime emerged and came to stand beside a Sphinx's head, matching its height. It discarded Jetfire's borrowed parts, letting them fall to the ground around it. Soldiers and robots alike gathered around. The battle was over.

Aria thanked the medic and joined the crowd. She stopped when Prime's gaze lingered on her for a moment.

She must have stood out like a sore thumb among the soldiers. She wasn't wearing any shoes, and the right half of her dress had blood smears all over it. Her hair was no longer in any sort of pony tail and was more like a disheveled mass surrounding her sand covered face. Regardless, Jetfire had been right.

The Prime was pretty amazing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my beta Sailor Luck for showing me how to make this chapter much better!


	4. Autobots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aria meets new people (and aliens)!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has not been betad betaed beta'd? idk yet. Will repost when it is!

Warm water splashed over Aria’s face, soaking her sand filled hair. The shower head was partially clogged so the water dribbled as much as it sprayed. Not that that mattered, a shower was a shower, and it was _amazing._

After the chaos had ended the day before, she was instructed by Colonel Lennox to come with them to a waiting aircraft carrier off the shore. She had joined a convoy of men and aliens, sitting shoulder to shoulder in the box of a large black pickup truck.

Around her was an assortment of military vehicles and regular vehicles following behind. She would have been confused about their presence, if she hadn’t previously caught sight of some of the robots transform into them mere moments before they left for the ship. For all she knew, the truck she sat in was an alien too.

Among the vehicles were the bright Camaro, and the red and green cars. Of course they were aliens. She was disappointed that she didn’t realize it sooner.

As they neared the ocean, the massive aircraft carrier came into view. It couldn’t come close to the shore because of its size, so a cargo ship had to transport the vehicles one or two at a time from the shore to the ship. Aria and the others remained inside the box as the truck boarded the vessel. Troops squeezed in around them, filling in the rest of the area.

All told, the process took hours. It was late in the evening by the time all the robots were loaded. She and the other passengers were led down a few flights of narrow stairs to a spare bunk room. Inside were nearly a hundred beds, each with its own seat of navy curtains and an assigned locker nearby.

A man hollered out to the crowd of people she was amongst that there would be a tour and briefing in the morning at eight am sharp, and that everyone should do their best to get some shut eye.

She immediately climbed into the closest empty bunk and drew the curtains, separating herself from the noisy crowd. It wasn’t until an hour later that all the chaos settled, and only whispers echoed throughout the large room. Despite the quiet atmosphere, she still tossed and turned. It was difficult trying to sleep when the sound of missiles and explosions rattled in her mind. Even closing her eyes was a gamble. The blackness of her eyelids turned to sandy dunes. Screaming people surrounded the mangled skeleton of Jetfire, the blue orb still glowing in his hand.

Before she knew it, the room came to life again. It started with beeping of alarms, then yawns and grumbles. Aria massaged her eyes, attempting to will away the drowsiness. Never in her life had she slept that badly.

When she climbed out of the small bunk, she was greeted with the sight of men shamelessly changing wherever they could find space. She wrinkled her nose, overwhelmed by the pungent stench of body odour. Averting her eyes from the changing men, she found a clock on the far wall that read six thirty-three. She groaned and made her way towards the exit. She had to carefully manoeuvre around the mass of people, apologizing to any that she accidentally bumped into on her way out.

Finally, out in the hall she walked towards the woman’s bathroom that had been pointed out to her the previous night. Inside was a handful of women in various states of undress, either getting into or out of the showers. They all looked like soldiers, toned if not muscular, with eyes that looked to have seen much battle before. A few sent a friendly smile her way, which she returned, doing her best to not appear as nervous as she felt. She hopped into a showering stall and peeled off her tattered dress.

She put a lot of effort into keeping her bandaged arm out of the water, using only her good one to clean herself. She washed her hair and body with the small bar of soap provided in the shower. She didn’t get out of the shower until the water ran clear, void of any sand and blood.

With nothing else to wear, she put the white dress back on and headed out towards the sinks. The military women were gone now, leaving her alone in front of the mirrors. The only sound in the room was running water from one of the showers. She combed her hair with her fingers, a long and painful process.  

Her hair was long, nearly long enough to sit on. It was a consequence of a childhood obsession with Disney princesses. Her mother blessed her with genetics of thick straight hair, but with it came thick brows that tended to be unruly. Freckles dotted her nose and cheeks, brought out by the Egyptian sun, and her lips were starting to regain their pinkish-red color thanks to accessible water. Her appearance wasn’t something to write home about, but she was content with it.

The shower tuned off and a girl came out. Not any girl, though. It was the girl from the museum. Not really knowing what to do or say, she turned back to the mirror sending sideways glances at the approaching girl. Maybe the girl wouldn’t remember her.

“Oh my god, it’s you!”

Aria’s eyes met the girl’s blue ones in the mirror. “Er...hi.” _Way to be eloquent._

The girl’s curious look turned to a friendly one. “I guess we kinda got off to a bad start at the museum, but yeah, I’m Mikaela. Nice to meet you!”

“I’m Aria, nice to meet you too,” she said and smiled back at Mikaela, hoping it didn’t look as awkward as she felt. At least the girl was social, so that made things a little less weird.  

Mikaela returned to her own refection and began to come through her dark hair. Mikaela’s hair was long, but not as long as hers. Aria’s face was rounder than Mikaela’s, and though darker than usual, was fairer in complexion. Aria however, was slightly taller.

“I’m really sorry about the museum. We didn’t think Jetfire was going to tear the place apart. And uh, sorry about your co-workers too, my—” she paused, a loss for words. “—Friend thought it was necessary.”

 “What exactly did you do to them?” Aria asked, they words coming out slowly.

“We uh, kinda tased them.”

Well that explained it.

“So that’s what it was. I thought they were having a stroke or something. I nearly tripped over Frank when I came out of the washroom. I called an ambulance and everything.”

The shorter girl grimaced. “We sent Leo into the men’s washroom, but he must not have checked the woman’s.”

Thinking back to when she was changing, what would she have done if a boy spontaneously barged into the bathroom and stunned her with a taser? Suddenly, she was very grateful she was a girl.

Mikaela’s eyes wandered upwards to the clock. Aria followed her gaze to the red number that displayed seven forty-five.

“Well we should probably find were everyone is meeting for the tour,” Mikaela said in a high-pitched voice.

Aria was also happy to change the subject. “Good idea. Let’s go.”

They exited the washroom and followed a couple other men towards a large room called a “mess”. It was filled with round tables and folding chairs. Along the one side was a buffet table full of breakfast food and multiple pots of coffee and hot water. Seeing as many of the people in the room were eating, both Aria and Mikaela headed towards the food. When the scent of warm eggs and sweet maple syrup filled her nose she nearly began to salivate. A loud grumble filled the air between the girls.

“Was that me or you?” Aria joked.

Mikaela giggled. “Probably could go either way.”

The pair began to fill their plates with food. Though Aria was extremely hungry, she avoided serving herself too much. She didn’t need a stomach ache on top of everything else that was going on.

“Sam!”

Aria flinched at loudness of Mikaela’s voice right beside her. The girl was waving her free hand to catch the attention of someone in the crowd. Aria craned her neck back over her shoulder to catch sight of none other than _the_ boy. Though his features were somewhat blurry due to his distance, he approached quickly and came into focus. He was a little shorter than Aria and had hazel eyes similar to hers.  Like the rest of them, he looked worse for wear.

“Mikaela, there you are!” he said, putting a bandaged hand on her back and pecking her cheek.

 “Aria, this is Sam. Sam, Aria. You remember her from the museum,” Mikaela introduced.

While Mikaela looked at the boy with an expectant glare, he mealy scratched the back of his head and cleared his throat. “Nice to meet you and uh…sorry about that.”

“Hey guys!” said another voice from behind. It was the other boy from the museum. He eagerly walked straight up to Aria and touched her shoulder before a conflicted look crossed his features and dropped it again. He was probably the type to obsess over girls but have no idea how to act around them.  “I’m Sam and Mikaela’s friend, Leo.”

“He’s my college roommate,” Sam clarified.

“I’m Aria, nice to formally meet you guys.”

They all sat down around a mostly vacant table to eat. Sam and Leo were both curious about Aria’s involvement at the museum, and kept asking her questions while she tried to eat. So in between small bites and awkward silences while she finished chewing, she recounted what happened at the museum and Egypt.

“I’m amazed Jetfire remembered to come back for you. He was definitely not all there,” Mikaela said while reaching for her glass of orange juice.

The subject of Jetfire was starting weigh on her. Sure, they didn’t know him any better than she did, but he had just _died_ the previous day. She put down her fork, the rest of her food having lost its appeal.  

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that aliens exist.”

They nodded in unison.

“Yeah, and that they’re robots that can transform into vehicles to hide,” Sam agreed.

“And hot chicks too!” Leo intervened. “No wonder she didn’t want the pizza,” he added, slouching back in his chair.

Aria was about it incline her head in agreement but paused mid action. _Did he just say they could transform into people?_ At first the size didn’t make sense until she remembered the tiny robot that accompanied the trio at the museum. But still, humans are complex and very organic looking, how could a metal alien transform into a person, or even something that looked just like a person?

Sam turned to Leo and Mikaela. “Oh yeah, I asked Skidz about that the other day. He said there were stories of Transformers that could make themselves look like people.”

“That means it’s probably not a common thing,” said Mikaela.

Leo shook his head zealously. “I don’t know guys, I don’t think Skidz knows much in general.”

“Yeah, I want to ask Ratchet or Optimus about it later. They probably know more.”

Did she hear that correctly over the ambient chatter? Skidz, Ratchet, Optimus; what kind of names were those? Even for nicknames they sounded strange. Were they experts on the aliens?

“Who are we talking about now?” Aria asked, pushing her empty plate aside and leaning in.

“Oh, sorry,” Sam apologized. “Skidz, Ratchet, and Optimus are all Transformers.”

Aria blinked. “As in the aliens? Cybertonians? You just…talk to them…casually?”

“Yeah. I mean, I guess that might sound a bit strange to you seeing as you’ve only talked to Jetfire.”

No, it wasn’t strange to her because of Jetfire being a bit senile. It was strange because talking to beings from outer space wasn’t something to be taken lightly. They were so different and powerful. One had climbed to the top of a pyramid and ripped it apart, and another could manipulate gravity. Even Jetfire could create portals through space! The Prime was massive and had such an authoritative aura, she was overwhelmed by it.

“And you’re not at all intimidated by them? I mean, the Prime is huge.”

“Oh yeah, that’s Optimus. He’s the leader of the Autobots.”

There it was again. The casualness he exuded while talking about the apparent leader of a faction in a planet destroying war.

“The Autobot’s being the good guys, right?”

“Yeah and the Decepticon’s are the bad guys. They’re led by Megatron.”

Now that was a name; _Megatron_. If an alien as great as the Prime lead the Autobots, did that mean Megatron was just as powerful?

“How did you get involved in all this anyways?”

Sam and Mikaela shared a knowing look, while Aria and Leo had similar expressions of curiosity. Leo must not know the story either.

“Well it all started two years ago when I put my great grandpa’s glasses up for sale on EBay,” Sam began.

He told the story of how he met the Autobots, starting with his Camero who was actually a Transformer named Bumblebee. It turned out that the attack in Mission City was in fact an alien invasion to a certain extent. He finished his story by telling her how they ended up in the museum, and what his role was during the Egypt battle.

Not only was this boy a huge part of the alien war taking place on earth, but he talked about as if it were nothing more than local politics. These were _aliens_ from a different _galaxy_.

“Do you want to meet them?” Mikaela asked.

The question took almost a minute to sink in. “…Meet them?”

Sam nodded. “Yeah I think some of them are resting still, but I talked to Ratchet this morning, so it should be fine.”

The screech of a whistle put a stop to any further conversation. Everyone in the room turned their heads towards a man standing on a platform near the door. He wore a naval uniform with multiple badges and ribbons on it.

“Good morning, troops. I’m Captain Wilder. I hope you all slept well. We are already running behind schedule due to stragglers, but we will now commence the tour of the _USS John C. Stennis_. We hope you will be comfortable during your one week stay aboard our beautiful ship. Now please follow me and for the love of god, don’t get lost.”

The four of them looked at each other briefly, and then got up to follow the crowd out of the room. Aliens aside, Aria was excited to tour the aircraft carrier. Hopefully at some point, she could watch some jets take off from the flight deck. The outside perspective was much more thrilling than actually taking off in one, which was better described as horrifying. If she never rode it a jet again, it would be too soon.

…

The tour took two hours to complete. The _USS Stennis_ was even bigger then she imagined. It was more like a floating city than a vessel, filled with thousands of people both soldiers and sailors. Though most of the ship was made up of long hallways and constricted spaces. There were some creature comforts scattered throughout, including small café’s, stores, gyms, and even lounges. Too bad she didn’t have any money on her.

Everyone was allowed to go up on the flight deck and just below in the hangar at anytime unless otherwise specified. Parts of the bridge were off limits, and they we’re allowed to use other mess halls, bathrooms or sleeping quarters that they weren’t assigned to.

The tour ended back in the same room they started. Aria yawned, ready for a nap. Nothing sounded better than closing the curtains to her bunk and curling up in a bundle of blankets.

Mikaela turned to her. “So Aria, you wanna come with us to see the Autobots?”

Crap. She was hoping they forgot about that. Of course she wanted to see them, but it was just so much to take in at once. Even thinking about it made her face heat up and palms sweat. Couldn’t she meet them one at a time or something?

“What are you guys waiting for? Come on!” Leo’s voice called.

Aria and Mikaela looked over to Sam and Leo, both already walking down the hall waving at them. When Mikaela turned back to Aria, she had a bright smile on her face and took Aria’s wrist in her hand.

“Let’s go!” she encouraged, leading Aria after them.

They travelled up a few flights of narrow stairwells chatting happily, well except Leo’s occasional grumble about being made fun of, until they made it to the hangar. It was filled with jets, namely F-18’s. There were no F-22’s though, so where had the one flying overhead come from?

Sam walked on purposefully, passing the flight personal without a second glance. He must have known exactly where the Autobot’s were. How though, she had no idea. He must have had military friends.

As they neared the back corner of the ship, some of the planes had been moved off to the sides in order to clear a space for a variety of familiar parked vehicles. Among them was a red and blue Peterbilt, a weird looking car that vaguely looked like a corvette and the bright yellow Camaro. In front of the vehicles was a big olive green robot working on a relatively smaller red one.

Upon noticing their presence, the green robot looked up and greeted Sam and Mikaela as if it were a normal everyday occurrence. "Hello Sam, Mikaela."

“Hey Ratchet, long time no see!” Sam grinned. Mikaela also greeted the robot.

The smaller robot spoke up. "Hey what up, not goin' to say hi to poor ol' Mudflap here?" Its voice was loud and echoed off the concrete walls.

"Hold still," the robot named Ratchet grumbled, fiddling with something on Mudflap’s arm.

"Hey, who's dat?" Mudflap asked, crudely pointed at Aria.

Sam took this as an opportunity to introduce her to the robot aliens. "This is Aria, she came with us to Egypt."

"How did she know about us?" the bigger robot inquired, now looking more closely at her. "I haven't seen her before."

Aria swallowed, not liking all the sudden attention. Both of the aliens were looking directly at her like some sort of specimen in a jar. Becoming aware of her body, she crossed and uncrossed her arms, not knowing what to do with them. Still they stared, not a noise from anyone else in the vicinity. Wait. Were they waiting for her to say something?

She opened and closed her mouth a few times. Talking to Mikaela had been difficult, but it was nothing compared to this.

Finally, with an exhale, she spoke. "I work at the museum that they found Jetfire. I followed them not really believing my eyes. Next thing I knew," Aria took a breath, "I was in Egypt."

Ratchet looked thoughtful. "So you came with Sam and the others to revive Optimus?"

Or right, Optimus was the Prime.

"No, I woke up after they left. I stayed with Jetfire until he came to join the fight…" There was a pang in her chest. Poor Jetfire.

"If it wasn't for Jetfire, Optimus wouldn't have been able to destroy the Star Harvester. We are in his debt."

Noise of hydraulics, rotating metal and spinning tires filled the hangar. Behind Ratchet, Aria witnessed the flaming truck transform into the great Prime itself. The cool breeze of its complete metamorphosis gently blew her hair back as she stared on at the sight.

It stood to its full height, head mere inches from the tall ceiling. The towering Prime held the same majestic posture as the first time she laid eyes on it. This time however, it looked directly down at her. She absently took a step back.

"Yes," it said in a deep voice. "Jetfire made a great sacrifice. He proved himself to be a true Autobot."

The Prime actually cared. "I know," she sighed not meeting the Peterbilt's bizarre glowing eyes.

The more she thought about the ancient robot, the more she realized how much she had enjoyed his strange and often frightening company.

The alien leader bent down on one knee and brought his large metallic face barely a meter from her small organic one. "I am Optimus Prime from the planet Cybertron," it said in a well-rehearsed tone.

Aria leaned back at the proximity of the Primes face. Odd glyphs were etched into the sides of where his cheeks would be. The metal face plates shifted as he talked and changed expression. It was amazing how different, yet similar their species were. Although his eyes looked like a series of lights and optics, he blinked just like a human. He had a metal nose, lips, cheeks and forehead too, much like humans

But then they were also completely different. Giants made of metal, able to change shape at will. Their limbs were made up of guns, and they ran on a mysterious substance called Energon. Who knew how they worked, or if they evolved or created.

"My name's Aria Normandy, I'm from uh, Earth," she said lamely. It sounded rather unimpressive when she said it aloud.

The giant robot nodded at her. "It is a beautiful planet.”

Goose bumps formed on her skin from the sound of the Primes deep voice. There was the distant sound an elevator bringing down various planes from the Flight Deck. However, Aria and the others paid no heed to it.

"The Autobots are honored to call it home," the thirty foot Prime finished. He gazed at the four humans with and expression Aria could only identify as respect.

It was fascinating to see these huge towering robots move and act as freely as people. But it was unbelievable how they were absolutely and perfectly sentient. They were compassionate towards each other and towards humans. Jetfire sacrificed himself, not just to save the Prime, but to save the planet as well.

"Yeah, and wit out us, those mean ol' Decepticons would mess you guys up!" Mudflap added.

Ratchet looked up from his work. "Earth's government seems to disagree," he shook his head. "Apparently the Decepticons are here to 'hunt' us. It’s preposterous. If we were to leave, the Decepticon’s wouldn’t waste a moment in enslaving this planet."

"Just how many Decepticons are there?"

The battle in Egypt made it clear to her that there were more than just a few Decepticons. Was it possible that they outnumbered the Autobots?

"Apparently for everyone we offline, five more appear to take its place." Ratchet gave a hard look. He then glanced up above Aria's head. "What are you…"

Before he could finish there was a sound like something was charging up coming from right behind her. Static filled the air causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. It was similar to the feeling to the pulse of energy when Jetfire first transformed.

Aria whirled around and came face to face with the barrel of a glowing blue cannon almost as big as her.

" _Boo._ "

A blood curling scream ripped out of her throat. She spun around and sprinted in the opposite direction.

This couldn't be happening! Was it another Decepticon? Only when she was half way down the hangar did she slow down to catch her breath. When she did, the sound of laughter rang over the pounding of her heart. Why the hell would anyone be laughing? And why was no one else running?

Curiosity getting the better of her for the second time in the past few days, she turned around. Thank god the robots were so huge, or else she wouldn't have been able to see the figure of the Prime scolding another rather sturdy looking robot for scaring the daylights out of the human.

"The girl has been through enough this past week without you frightening her," the Prime’s voice boomed through the hangar.

"I just wanted to show her my cannons…" The ebony robot muttered rather dejectedly, disarming its weapon.

"Aria come back, he was just teasing you!" Mikaela hollered over to her. It sounded like she was trying not to laugh.

Aria cautiously made her way back, never taking her scrutinizing eyes off the robot known as Ironhide. She made sure to join Leo behind Sam and Mikaela. He also looked apprehensive of the newest alien.

It was second only to the Prime in size. It wasn’t as tall, but bulkier. Its one eye was bright blue like the rest of the Autobots, but the other was dimmer. As she got closer, the robot’s face became clearer. Half its face was mangled, resembling a battle scar. It made the alien look even more intimidating.

The ebony robot regarded her through narrowed optic eyes. "I'm the Autobots' weapons specialist, Ironhide. I'd be best for you remember it, _punk_." It spat disdainfully.

"A-Aria. Nice to meet you too," she sputtered out in response. Ironhide didn't sound the least bit friendly.

"Punk," it repeated.

She was not a _punk_.

"Ironhide, be nice," the Prime chided.

The weapons specialist muttered under its breath before turning around and transforming into a very heavy-duty looking truck, joining the other vehicles that had yet to transform. Wait, wasn’t that the same truck she rode in on the way to the ship?

"Aria," she turned around once again to face the olive colored robot addressing her. "Don't let him get to you, that's just how he is."

Sam smiled at her. "Yeah, it just means he likes you," he teased.

Aria nodded despite her confusion. Wanting to change the subject, she faced the olive and red robots. "So you’re Ratchet and er-" What was the smaller one's name again?

"Yes, I'm Ratchet, the Autobots’ medic. It’s a pleasure to meet you," it- no, he nodded at her.

"And I'm Mudflap!" The small red alien exclaimed before Aria could return the greeting to the larger robot.

"Well it's nice to meet you too." She paused awkwardly before continuing, "It's not every day I get to meet Autobots from the planet Cybertron."

Okay that sounded dumb. Beside her Sam and Mikaela started their own conversation with the Prime. Relief washed over her, now she only had to focus on the two Autobots in front of her.

“Ah, so Jetfire must have told you about our home planet. A beautiful place in it hay day.”

Though his tone was light, his face darkened a moment after. Deciding it wasn’t appropriate to bring up the destruction of their planet, she asked a different question.

“So why Earth of all places?”

The cloud lifted from Ratchet’s expression. Mudflap also looked at him, eager to hear the answer as well.

“The machine you saw back in the desert was a Star Harvester. Its primary function was to harness your sun’s energy to produce a substance called Energon. We did not know such a machine existed on this planet, but because of its presence, something else from our planet locked on to its coordinates and landed her as well. We came here in search of that artifact. It was, however, destroyed shortly after we arrived.”

Okay, that all made sense. She already knew about the part where The Fallen built the Star Harvester on earth because he was basically an asshole with no moral compass. The artifact though…was it a ship? If it could lock on to coordinates of a machine in a different galaxy, it must be some sort of super advanced technology.

“What made you decide to stay then? If the artifact was destroyed was there another reason?”

“We decided to stay because of the bonds we’ve formed. Although the Allspark was lost, we could not abandon your race and leave you to the mercy of the Decepticons.”

“Freedom is the right of all sentient beings, and if we must stay to ensure yours, we will,” the Prime interjected, joining the conversation.

Aria, Ratchet, and Mudflap all turned their heads to regard it—him.

“Hey, hey, hey!”

Aria whipped her head back towards a man pacing towards them, his boots clacking on the tarmac. Even from a distance she could tell he wore a military uniform.

“We can’t have civilians talking to the Autobots!”

As he closed in on them, Aria recognized him as the Colonel. She owed a lot to the man, seeing as he was the one who gave her clearance to board the ship. She didn’t, however, like that Sam and Mikaela told her it was okay to meet the Autobots when it clearly wasn’t. She opened her mouth to apologize, but Sam spoke up first.

“Awe, come on Lennox, not like she hasn’t seen them before! I mean, she rode in with Jetfire!”

Colonel Lennox rolled his eyes but deflated none the less. “I know they’re your friends, Sam, but they’re also treated as government assets. She needs clearance—“ he paused as if he just thought of something. “You told her about Mission City, didn’t you?”

Sam and Mikaela nodded. The colonel let out a long, frustrated sigh and turned to face Aria. “I’m going to need you to come with me to fill out more paperwork.”

She said goodbye to the group of humans and aliens and followed Colonel Lennox. While she followed him, she reflected on what she had learned from her short talk with the Autobots.

Though they were new to Earth and owed nothing to humans, they chose to stay because they felt responsible for their safety. But then there was the other thing Ratchet said, that they had formed bonds in their short time here. The colonel called the Autobot’s Sam’s friends. Did that mean that they were more than just allies? That bonds could truly be formed with an alien race? Could she also form a bond with them?

Could she actually be their friend?

…

**Author's Note:**

> I suck at editing btw, so I apologize for any spelling and punctuation errors! So if you wanna beta for me, let me know ;D


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